Swansong
by chicagochi4183
Summary: My name is Isabella. On my 23rd birthday I found out that Tanya Denali, my mother, stole me from my biological parents as a baby. You've seen the movie, but this is my version. This is my Swansong.
1. Introduction

**A/N: This story is going to be more adult and intense than most of my writing. If you've read my HP fics and aren't sure how you'll feel about this, or if you're new to me as an author, I encourage you to at least give it a try. **

**I don't own this world, or these characters, just my plot.**

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><p>If you're reading this, I know what you're expecting to read. You want the heartwarming story that they made a film out of. You want the beautiful actress Rosalie Hale and her best friend Jess Stanley falling in love with the dashing investigator Emmett McCarty as she finds her true parents in Aro Volturi and Charlotte Randall and escapes from Victoria James. Well sorry, but that's not what you're going to get. For one thing, I will never be as beautiful as Rosalie, though I think Edward kicks Emmett's ass any day. Jessica Stanley is the last person I would ever want to be close friends with; my Alice is a shorter, and nicer person by far. Victoria James is an unfeeling lunatic who doesn't capture the essence of Tanya at all, and while Charlotte's alright if Aro Volturi turned out to be my father, I would literally rather die. No, my name is Isabella. Swan, Denali, the last name is negotiable. The point is, this story isn't a fairytale. It's real life. It's my life. If you want to keep reading it's up to you.<p>

I know you want to jump right in on the day that my whole life began to unravel, because that's where the film starts and Rosalie Hale has beautiful weepy eyes of disbelief. But I'm telling this story, and so we're going to start off with my earliest memory of my mom. And yes, for right now, I mean Tanya Denali.

I remember I was about 3 or 4 years old, so this was 2 or 3 years after she and my aunt Jane took me. I remember sitting in a cart in a grocery store, and this woman comes up to me and my mom. She leans down over me and pinches my cheek, and I remember looking up to my mom in confusion.

"Your daughter is so beautiful." The woman said. My mom beamed like it was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her. She picked me up right out of the cart, and held me close to her.

"Her name is Isabella." She told the woman. "But my sister and I call her Bella because she's so beautiful."

"Are you raising her all alone?" The woman asked. I remember this, because of the way the woman's face curled up in disgust. She took a step back, like she was afraid my mom and I were going to contaminate her. But my mom wasn't even phased. I remember looking up at her, at this bright smile she got on her face.

"Isabella is the best gift that God ever gave me. I knew it from the moment I saw her." The woman got all huffy and walked off, and to be honest I don't remember much after that. But I remember that moment because it was the first time I really understood how much my mother loved me. Holding me close like that, I could feel it in her voice and in her heart.

I know I'm not supposed to say that. Believe me, one unglamorous thing you won't see in the movie is how much therapy you go through when you find out that the mother who loved you for your whole life actually stole you from a group of perfectly sane, wonderful people who were also willing to love you but never got the chance. But it's true. It was an obsession, it was unhealthy, and I am finally able to admit that it was crazy. But my mother loved me more than anything else.

I remember a lot of other things in my childhood. I was always kind of a small kid, which makes perfect sense now. My mom was very protective of me. I remember any time something happened to me, whether I was sick or had a scrape, my mom brought me to see Aunt Jane. As a licensed nurse, Aunt Jane was more than qualified to take care of it. Besides, it wasn't too long before I gave up most physical things in exchange for being a huge nerd.

That's another thing they got wrong in the movie. You know that scene about that cute brunette little girl asking her pretty redhead mother why she doesn't look like her after soccer practice? If that had ever happened at all, if I had ever thought to ask my mom why I wasn't a pretty, fair-headed little girl like her or Aunt Jane, it was more likely to happen in a library. My mom pushed me to love reading and academics, and I did.

I could be cynical and say that it's because she didn't want me to get hurt and see a doctor, or anything that could get her found out, but that really doesn't make sense to me. From what I know about my mother, she wanted me to be beautiful and smart. Tanya Denali wanted me to have an amazing life. She always had time to help me with my homework, no matter what job she was working. She taught me how to do my make-up, how to curl my hair, and when I didn't have an interest in those things she taught me how unimportant they were.

I wish I had a more exciting backstory sometimes. On the days that I dislike her especially. Sometimes, when I'm getting breakfast with Charlie and Renee, or when Nessie and I are hanging out, I wish I could tell them that they did something better than my mom. That they understood me better than Tanya, or they let me be my own person, or they were less demanding. My relationship with Tanya was not perfect. But there was never a second in my life that I doubted that she wanted me to feel loved and cherished.

Growing up in a small town in Massachussets, I never had a reason to leave the state. We would go on vacation to Boston, and no matter how many times we'd done it before my mom always let me walk to freedom trail like a geeky tourist. We would go on duck tours, explore the art and science museums, or relax in the park. This is how I decided that I wanted to go to MIT, seeing all of the MIT students relaxing in the park, working on cool projects or riding bikes they'd made themselves.

With the same fervor, obsession probably, that she dedicated to all of my goals, Tanya made sure my dream would happen. Even when I realized that I wanted to do something more creative, she helped me be the best student that I could be. By the time I was a senior in high school, MIT was all but a guarantee. When I graduated High School, my mom helped me decorate my graduation cap with MIT or Bust in sparkling rhinestones. When I graduated from MIT with my Business degree, my mom was ecstatic. She was the proudest parent there by far.

I remember just holding me and crying, telling me how proud she was of me. I knew that my mom had never gone to college – she never got the chance. My aunt Jane went back for her nursing degree, but my mom was content to work odd jobs and dream. When I graduated, she told everyone that it was like one of her lifelong dreams had been accomplished. I felt so loved that day, it almost hurt.

The only decision I ever made that Tanya didn't immediately support with her whole heart, was my decision to move from Massachusetts to Seattle for a job. I knew that my mom hated the West Coast. I thought it was because she hated the small religious town in Montana, where I was "born," and that she and Jane never wanted me to go back to. I convinced my mom and Aunt Jane that I would never even set foot in Montana, and when that wasn't good enough, I told them I wouldn't so much as leave Seattle without letting them know first. For obvious reasons, my mom was terrified about me living so close to where I was actually born, but I didn't know that then. It was our first real fight, but when my mom realized that I had made up my mind, she let me go with her blessing.

In the interest of full honesty, my therapist has made it clear to me that this need to have control over my life and dictate my activities is not actually characteristic of love. On a rational level, I completely understand this. It is crazy, and as therapy has taught me, if I hadn't been conditioned for my whole life to see Tanya's obsessive control over all of my wants and actions as normal, I'd be able to see that. But the truth is, it feels like love. It feels like love that my mom cared enough to want to watch over all aspects of my life, and make each one as perfect as she possibly could.

Still, done was done. Unlike in the movie, once my mom realized that I had made up my mind about Seattle, she tried to be excited for me. She helped me in the roommate search, and was delighted when I found Alice and Angela looking for a third. She joked that Angela was my little guardian angel while I was so far away. She laughed at the jokes Alice told me over the internet and on the phone. She sent both of them care packages when we signed the lease, a month before I even moved. When I left, she didn't drive with me – letting my then-boyfriend Paul take care of that. However, she did give me armfuls of pictures of me and her to decorate my new room with, as well as enough food to last the first week. She told me to call her at the first sign of trouble, and reminded to keep my nose clean and stay on the straight and narrow.

I knew I would forever be friends with Alice and Angela from the second I walked in the door. Back then Angela had just started her copy editor position at the newspaper, and Alice was working at the same PR firm than me, although she was branding and I was analytics. I loved my job almost instantly as well. For that first year or so Seattle was perfect. Seven months into us living together Alice met Jasper, who soon became a near-permanent fixture in our lives. Southern, charming, intelligent, and kind he swept Alice off of her feet, and it didn't take long for us to all know he was her one.

I'm not writing all of this to guilt or goad anyone, or to try and make people love Tanya. I believe that people deserve to know the truth about her, and the truth about me, more than a film can convey. What happened to me has touched a lot of people out there, who have been through various but still painful situations, and I want them to get a picture of the crazy variation of emotions that surround this all. I'm not perfect, nor Edward, Alice, Angela, Jasper, Tanya, Jane, my Swan parents, or Nessie. It's tempting to draw lines on who is good and who is bad, or who was right and who was wrong. But the truth is, everything is messy. Sometimes all of us were right, sometimes none of us were.

Life is difficult, we faced it, and now I have two loving parents, an amazing sister, my best friends, and a mom and aunt out there who gave me the best life they could give. This book is my chance to say what happened and make peace with it. Consider it the final chapter of this moment in my life – my Swansong.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Now it's time to really enter Bella's life. Please drop me a review!

I don't own these characters or this world, just my plot.

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><p>It started out like any other day, except better because it was my birthday. That year, it felt like luck that my birthday was on a Friday. The year before, we went to dinner and then made cocktails in the den. But this time, Alice decided we were going to have the time of our lives.<p>

At work, everyone was really nice. My amazing boss, Mary, bought me a little cake. Everyone in the office sang to me, wishing me the best. Then, two of my co-workers handed me twenty dollars from everyone for a free lunch out.

While I was at lunch, I called my mom.

"Happy Birthday, Darling!" My mom chorused, as soon as I picked up the phone. I could practically hear her excitement.

"You're not at work are you?" I checked. I often took my lunch break around my mom's work schedule so that I could call her.

"No, you have perfect timing. I just got of my shift at Victoria's, and I don't start at the Macy's until five."

"Oh, I forgot you'd moved to Victoria's! How do you like it? Is everything free?"

"Well no, everything isn't free. But let me put it this way, you and Mike are both going to really like your present this year."

"Mom!"

"What? Darling, I'm not that old."

"Oh my God, mom if this is going to turn into you telling me about your sex life –"

"Bella, I would never do that!" We both paused, and then she sighed.

"Okay, I wouldn't do that on your birthday." I laughed, and even she had to giggle.

"Anyways, that's not even what I was going to say, mom. Just, make sure you enjoy the perks of all the free things too, okay? You don't have to give me everything."

"Of course I do. You're my daughter. But, a lot of the other women who work here gave up some of their freebies for your gift, not just me. And I don't know where you get this idea that I don't have nice things, Bella. Just because I moved into an apartment."

"Okay, okay." I gave in. "Thanks, mom."

"No problem, darling. Anyways, you didn't call to hear about bras, and sex. You called because it's your birthday. I can't believe you're twenty-three!"

"I know! It feels so weird. There are no more milestones left in my life."

"Really, Bella? No more? What about getting married, having a baby?"

"Mom, those don't happen at a specific age!"

"You're right as usual, my little genius. How are you going to celebrate tonight? Do you and the girls have plans? Or, are you and Mike going to get cozy?"

"You know Alice would kill me if we didn't celebrate together. Mike has to work late all weekend, so he's going to take me out next Tuesday."

"Bella, I still can't believe you're dating a doctor. And a handsome doctor at that."

"Well, don't ring any wedding bells yet. We've kind of been fighting recently. I'm trying to respect his schedule but sometimes it feels like Mike doesn't want to see me, you know? He can also be pretty insensitive recently."

"Well then, darling, if he hurts you then you just let me deal with him. No doctor is going to disrespect you while I'm around." Both of us laughed at that one. I had no doubt that if I asked her to, my mom would fly to Seattle and beat the shit out of Mike. But I doubted it would be necessary. All couples went through rough patches.

"Anyways, Alice has this whole big thing planned. She and Jasper got us a VIP booth at some new club downtown. She got Jasper to agree to be sober too, so the rest of us can get crazy. And Alice and Ang told me I'm not buying any of my drinks tonight."

"Sounds fun. Before you go out, try to call me again? I work at the makeup counter till the mall closes at nine, which is only six for you. When were you planning on heading out?"

"Well, me, Alice, and Angela are doing dinner around eight, so I could call you then, but mom that's eleven. Are you sure you want to be up that late?"

"Bella, it's your birthday. Talking to you is more important."

"Alright. I'll talk to you then. I should get going, I need to actually eat this free lunch."

"Free?"

"Yeah, some coworkers split the cost of my lunch as a birthday gift."

"Oh! How sweet of them. Okay, I'm going to get you go enjoy your free lunch. But first. Happy birthday Bella. Every single year I've had with you has been absolutely incredible. I love you, more than anything in the world."

"I love you too, mom."

"Okay, bye darling.

"Bye, mom."

Once I got off the phone, I was free to enjoy my lunch. Mushroom ravioli was my absolute favorite meal. Though I'm not a vegetarian, I think it tastes better than any meat dish ever could. It tasted even better on my birthday, and because it was free. With the extra money left over, I stopped and got some donuts for the office.

I left work a little early that day, I suspect that Mary gave me lighter projects on purpose, but still Angela beat me home. She was in the den when I got back, and immediately she pulled me into a hug.

"Happy birthday!" Angela pulled back to smile at me.

"You look as young as ever." She winked, before flopping back onto the couch. She was playing some video game. Unlike Alice and me, Angela is super into video games. She can have hour long debates with people, mostly guys, about which consoles, games, controllers, etc. are better and why. Alice and I occasionally played the dancing game, but Angela had a little bookshelf in our den that was just full of all of her games – with a drawer for all of her different controllers and headsets and things.

"Are you winning?" I asked, watching over her shoulder. There was a lot of exploding going on, but that was about all I got.

"There's not really winning in this one, Bella. But I'm definitely not losing."

"Well, good then." I put my stuff away in our closet, and then joined Angela on the couch.

"Your book is in the kitchen, Alice moved it this morning while she was tidying." Angela didn't even take her eyes off the screen. I got up and grabbed it, moving back to the couch.

Every year since high school, I liked to re-read one of my favorites around my birthday. It was something one of my teachers did, and I always thought it was poetic. This year's choice was Gone With the Wind, which I'd started reading the day before. It was the favorite novel of my Aunt Jane and me, and I knew when I finished I'd have to call her and gush about it.

Alice didn't get home until an hour later, but the second she walked in the door she was a whirlwind of activity.

"How have neither of you started getting ready, it's after six!" Alice greeted us.

I should take the time to describe Alice and Angela. Angela is tall, just under six feet, and beautiful. Her mother is Puerto Rican, and her dad is French Canadian, so she looks like a model with light brown hair and dark, piercing eyes. She's also a total tomboy, to the degree that after living with her for nearly two years, I'd never once seen her in anything but pants. By contrast, Alice is exactly five feet tall. Her mother is an immigrant from Korea – not even five feet tall, and her dad is also pretty short at 5'5. She gets her blue eyes and her nose from her dad, but other than that she could be her mom's twin. It's funny to see her with Jasper, who's six foot two, but they just work together.

"Hello to you too, Alice." Angela called over her shoulder. Next thing I knew, I was wrapped up in a hug.

"Happy birthday, Bella!" Alice cheered. "Hi Ang," she added afterwards, arms still around my neck.

"Thanks Alice." I smiled.

"But seriously, you both should be in the shower. Well, not both of you. But one of you. Bella, you first!" Alice hauled me out of the chair, book forgotten as she led me to the bathroom. For someone so tiny, Alice has to be one of the strongest people I know. She does yoga near-religiously.

By the time I got out of the shower, Alice had already selected what I was going to wear, both to dinner and then out later. I got into my robe, another item courtesy of Alice, and immediately started in on makeup and hair. It's not really my thing, but Alice is absolutely obsessed with beauty.

"Alice, are you going to shower?" I called down the hallway. Alice came into my room, as I was brushing out my hair.

"I miss my hair." She sighed, running her fingers through her own, short locks. She'd gotten her hair caught in an earring when she slept in it by accident, and had to cut her hair to chin length. It suited her, but Alice loved her long, thick hair.

"But yeah, I am. I won't take as much time to get ready. You're going to wear what I picked, right?"

"Yeah, you know I love that blue dress. The red one is a little short, but I'm guessing you're going to tell me that's the point. I don't know why you want me to look so hot when Mike's not even coming."

"You can do better than that asshole, Bella." Alice said matter-of-factly.

"I agree!" Angela called from the bathroom. It was no secret that they disliked Mike. Alice thought that he belittled me, and Angela thought he was too smug, and they both thought that all of our fights were his fault. I chalked it up to them being good friends.

"Yeah, well, I'm not going to cheat on him on my birthday." I laughed them off. Alice shrugged.

"Suit yourself. I still think you deserve to see how many better guys there are who could be interested in you, even though you don't want any of them. Listen to me, Bella, you should listen to your elders.

"You're two years older, Alice. One year now. But I'll wear it. Thanks for giving me lower heels."

"You're going to be smashed tonight. I don't want you to fall over." Alice teased. I had nothing to say back. Heels and I don't mix, and never have.

After a quick call to my mother and my aunt Jane, we left the apartment at quarter to eight. We went to my favorite Thai restaurant, and as usual we ordered one of every appetizer on the menu for our dinner. It was an idea that was borne out of a late night and too much wine, but then it became a tradition. As soon as our order was put in, we immediately got to Angela.

"So, how was your date with mystery man?" I asked.

"Still hate blind dates?" Alice added. After us bothering her for months to let us try and set her up, Angela had let her boss set her up with his son.

"Well…" Angela paused and then picked up her glass. "I think I need a little wine in me before I can talk about this." She said, before downing it in one go.

"Well, I guess we're starting strong." Alice joked, and all of us burst out laughing.

"Okay, no, it was. I don't know. I was expecting him to be like his dad, you know? But Ben was, I don't know. He was a sweetheart. Really genuinely kind. I liked him."

"I sense a but." I cut in. Angela looked forlornly at her empty glass, and Alice and I exchanged a look.

"What is it?" Alice asked.

"He's only, like, five foot nine. I'm taller than him. And you know how much I hate that." She leaned back, sighing dramatically, before sitting back up.

"Okay, I know it's not like the worst thing in the world. He was really funny, and really smart. And I could tell he liked me, and he didn't care. But, I don't know. Anyways he asked me out again that night, and I said yes. So we'll see."

"One day when you guys have eleven little babies running around, I'll remind you of this conversation." Alice winked.

"Well, I don't want to talk about that. Let's talk about tonight!" Angela smiled.

"Our Baby Bell is finally twenty-three. You know what that means?" I must have given Angela a look, because she grinned at me.

"It means you're old enough for everyone in the world to feel like they can ask you when you plan to settle down and have kids. So enjoy that. It's why my boss set me up with Ben in the first place." Alice and Angela had a laugh at the shocked expression on my face, but after that our conversation slipped into more normal topics.

After dinner, we all went back to the apartment. As instructed, Angela and I changed into the outfits Alice had chosen for us. I had to admit, we all looked good. She put us all in jewel tones, and we took a lot of pictures.

Right on the clock, there was a knock on the door.

"Jazz!" Alice practically squealed. She jumped into his arms, and Jasper caught her easily. Then, he turned to me.

"Happy Birthday, Bella." He drawled. Jasper is from Alabama and went to college in Texas, so he's as Southern as it gets."

"Thanks, Jasper."

"Well, what are we waiting for? You ladies look absolutely beautiful." Jasper smiled.

"Hey Al, you have your keys, right?" Angela asked, as we all grabbed our purses.

"Yeah, plus Jasper has his spare. Is everyone ready?" I walked out.

"Yup, let's go do this!" The drive to the club went quickly, and as Jasper parked the rest of us waited out front. Because we had a table, we were able to go in as a group.

To be honest, I don't remember much of that night. I remember walking in, and the club was louder than I expected.

At one point, a tall guy with sandy blonde hair danced with me. His name was Robin, or Riley or something, and he was really handsy. I remember Alice and Angela making me do a shot every half hour because it was my birthday. At one point, the sandy hair guy bought a double round for all of us. But mostly, I just remember being incredibly drunk and incredibly happy.

Sometime around 2 AM, Jasper drove all of us back to our apartment. We practically tumbled out of his car, but when he offered to walk us back up, Alice kissed him and told him to get lost.

As he pulled away, we walked up to the front gate of our apartment, and then Alice said something I will never forget.

"Did I give one of you my purse?" Immediately, Angela and I looked at her like she was crazy.

"No, why would you do that?" "Of course not Alice!" She got really quiet then, and if Alice gets quiet you know something bad is happening.

"Alice, where is your purse?" Angela asked. Alice looked down the road.

"It's in Jasper's car." She said, in a really small voice. Immediately we all groaned.

"That's just great!" Angela said. Jasper lost one of his cousins when she tried to text while driving. Since then, he always turns his phone off when he's driving. We knew he'd have done it as soon as he left the club, and wouldn't turn his phone on again until he got home. Jasper lived about twenty minutes away from us, so even if he turned on his phone as soon as he got home we were looking at a forty minute wait.

"Neither of you brought your keys?" Alice asked.

"My purse is too small." I showed her the tiny bag she'd picked for me to bring. It only had enough room for me to jam my phone and some emergency money in.

"You said you had it." Angela shrugged. Alice frowned.

"Alice, it's really cold out." I admit, I was definitely the most intoxicated, and I was in no place to be helpful in any way. Alice leaned against the railing to our apartment, until she suddenly perked up.

"I know what we can do!" She cheered. Then, before Angela and I could stop her, Alice leaned over and pushed a random call button. She pushed it like twenty times.

"Hello! Are you awake? We're stuck outside. Let us in! Let us in!"

"Alice, what are you doing?" Angela asked.

"No, this is going to work. Bella, start yelling." I blame our intoxication for what happened next, because I'm not proud of this but I did in fact start yelling.

"Is anyone up? Let us in!" I started yelling.

"Guys, it's two in the morning." Angela frowned.

"Angela, we could freeze to death out here!" Alice complained. So, even Angela got on board. Again, none of us would normally ever do this. But there we were, screaming outside of our apartment building and harassing our neighbors. It actually shouldn't come as a shock that we were arrested.

The officer who came was very nice considering the circumstances. When he pulled up and got out, at first we thought he was there to help us in. But when he explained that we had to be brought in we all got really quiet.

"But, it's my birthday." I protested. The officer frowned.

"I'm sorry ladies, but three of your neighbors called us. You woke up someone's child. I have to take you in. But, you seem like real nice girls. I'm sure this won't even go on your record."

That was that. Birthday or no, we were charged with public intoxication and brought down to the jailhouse. As we walked in, it was nicer than I'd expected. I'd never been in a police building before, but it didn't seem like the worst.

"Okay ladies, now we have to fingerprint you and take a picture, okay? So everyone get out your IDs." The female cop in front of us was speaking to us like we were children, but to be fair we were still pretty drunk and acting like children.

"Who wants to go first?" She asked. Angela stepped forward.

"Don't you have real criminals to arrest?" She muttered. I think she meant to be quiet, but the woman heard her and huffed.

"Step forward please." As she took Angela's fingerprints, my drunk mind was just starting to comprehend that I was really being arrested. I frowned.

"Alice, we're in trouble." I said. Alice nodded.

"You go next, Bella." I looked up, as the woman was directing Angela where to go to take her mugshot.

"Alice, they post your mugshots on the internet. The whole world is going to know that I was brought in."

"Don't be silly, Bella." Alice nudged me forward.

"Okay sweetheart, what you're going to do is…" I kind of tuned her out, letting the woman direct me. I was too busy wondering if I could lose my job for being arrested. When the woman was done, she directed me back down the hall towards where she'd sent Angela. I walked in to stand with Angela, in line behind some other women. By the looks of them, they definitely weren't all in there for the same reason as the rest of us.

The line moved slowly forward, with Alice soon joining us. Right before it was Angela's turn to go, a cop walked in. Everything stopped as he walked forward and spoke to the person taking the photos, before walking over to our trio.

"Which one of you is Isabella Denali?" He asked. None of us spoke.

"Ladies, do I need to add interfering with a police investigation to your rap sheets?" He asked. I whimpered, but I put my hand in the air. He nodded back out the door.

"Come with me for a moment. We need to ask you some questions about some things." Immediately my eyes grew wide. I looked at Angela and Alice, who looked at me confused and helpless. Suddenly, it was all too much.

"Am I going to prison?" I asked. The officer must have heard something in my tone of voice, because he whirled around quickly like he'd be able to stop it. But it was too late. By the time he'd done a 180 the first tear had already fallen. Everything going on was too much for my drunk mind to handle. The officer sighed.

"Look, there's no need to cry. You're not in trouble really, we just have some questions." But as with all drunks, telling me not to cry only made me cry harder. I'm a really quiet crier – my face gets all scrunched up and I heave and whine quietly – so I'm sure to him it looked like I might have been having some sort of an episode.

Still, he did his job, shepherding me away from my normal, happy, ordinary life with my friends and into the room where my entire world was about to unravel.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: So today has not been my day, but that's nothing new for me right now sorry to say. yes, I clicked the wrong document by accident. Here is the true Chapter 2. It's going to be nice and slow on this story, but half the fun is in the waiting ;)**

**All of my love, but alas, none of my characters. The only thing I own is my plot! **

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><p>I wish I could say that I kept my composure well that day. That I was calm and collected. I wish I could say that I looked just like Rosalie Hale, beautiful with soft brown ringlets and big doe eyes, and fat tears. But considering that I was drunk enough that one of the officers had to help me sit down, I think you can imagine that I wasn't.<p>

They first officer brought me to a room where two other officers were seated. After helping me into the chair, the sole female officer looked me right in the eye and cleared her throat to get my attention. I was still silently crying, even though I had no idea what was going on. She opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off.

"Where are my friends?" I whined. She reached out to pat me on the arm, and then seemed to think better of it and put her hand flat on the table.

"Will you please repeat your name for us? She asked. I stared at her.

"Is this on the record? I know my rights? I'm not going to prison." I said. She sighed.

"Nobody is trying to send you to prison. We just have to clear something up." She said. I nodded.

"My name is Isabella Denali. Here's my ID." I said. I handed her my library card. Then I handed her my old college ID. On the third try I finally got my actual ID and gave it to her. She looked it over for a long time before handing it to me, shining the light on it and bending it and everything.

"It's real." I said, confused. She stared at me.

"What is your date of birth?"

"March 16th, but I don't"

"Miss, uh, Miss Denali. What is your social security number?"

"123-45-6789" I gave her my actual social, of course. At this point I probably sounded like a little girl, I was more crying than speaking, crying silently.

"Have you given fingerprints before?" She asked. I shook my head.

"You've never left the country?"

"I'm not a terrorist!" I said, frowning.

"M'am. We're going to need you to calm down." One of the male police officers leaned in, clearly trying to be helpful.

"Don't tell me to calm down when you're trying to arrest me for terrorism!" I wailed, bringing on a new set of tears. The female cop looked at the guy then, exasperated, and whispered something to him. He left the room. She looked back at me then, looking a lot kinder.

"Miss Denali, I have some news to give you. There is no reason to believe that you are in trouble, but I will not lie to you either. Are you ready?" I was not ready. But, drunk as I was, I sat up straight and did my best to look her in the eyes.

"I'm ready." I lied.

"Alright. Have you ever heard of Isabella Swan?" I shook my head. She nodded.

"Isabella Swan is a little girl who was taken when she was only six months old. She was kidnapped right from home. And sweetheart, your fingerprints are a 92% match to hers in the registry." I was silent for a long time.

"Wait, so she might be related to me?" I asked. The officer sighed, shaking her head.

"We have reason to believe you might be her." She said. I blinked, tears still falling.

"So I'm not going to prison?" I asked. As I spoke, my stomach gave a terrible but unfortunately all too familiar lurch.

"Miss Denali do you understand what I just told you?"

"I think I'm going to throw up."

"I understand that this is troubling news –"

"No, I think I had one too many shots, I'm going to get sick!" I insisted. The male cop sprang into action, picking up a metal waste bin and handing it to me just in time for me to hurl into it. Then I realized that my friends weren't there to hold my hair back and I started crying again.

"Where are my friends?" I asked.

"They're in the other room. But Miss Denali, I think it's in everyone's best interests if we detain you tonight. This won't go on your record, but we can't in good faith let you go in the state you're in."

"We're getting arrested?"

"Not arrested, Miss Denali. Just detained. And your friends are going to be free to go with a warning."

"But you can't keep me and let my friends go!" I insisted. "I don't want to sleep with prostitutes."

"Miss Denali, you'll be in a separate cell. I know it won't be the most comfortable night, but you'll be alright." It was too late. I had already started crying again. The female cop sighed, and stood up.

"Come on ma'am." She said. Still crying I followed her. Down the hall I could hear Angela arguing with the cops, telling them they had to release me too. But her voice died out and a man's voice, probably Jasper I concluded, took over. I was shown to a small room that, except for the bars, looked more like an awful motel than what I'd pictured.

As she'd promised, nobody disturbed me the whole night. Drunk as I was, I slept like a rock. I woke up to the sound of the bars screeching open.

"Where am I?" I asked, as I sat up. It's probably no surprise that my headache was major. I squinted against the light coming into the room, covering my eyes. I didn't remember anything about where I was or why, but at the sight of a uniform I realized that I was in jail.

"What did I do?" I asked the officer who stood at the door. He just shook his head at me, but it looked like he was holding back a laugh so I figured I was okay. My mouth tasted like vomit and my whole body ached; I was instantly mortified.

"Let's go." He said. I followed him quietly, looking straight forward and hoping that my blush wasn't visible. I turn bright red whenever I'm embarrassed. Not a pretty, flushed red but a full on, get-this-girl-some-water, glowing red.

The officer brought me to a room, which I later learned was the same room as the night before, and sat me down.

"Miss Denali, do you remember what we told you yesterday?" He asked.

"Did you read me my rights?" I guessed. He looked like he was trying not to laugh again.

"You weren't under arrest, though you seemed very convinced yesterday." I knew for sure that my blush had to be visible by then.

"Look, whatever I said or did yesterday I apologize." I said.

"From what I hear, you weren't that bad. Just crying." My hands immediately went to my face. If Alice's waterproof mascara hadn't held up, I probably had black tear tracks from eyes to chin. I wondered if it would be weird to ask for a mirror.

"I don't remember that." I said, as quietly as possible.

"Let me bring in detective Rourke. I trust that you'll behave in here while I'm gone? Do I need to cuff you to the table?"

"I'll behave." I promised. As soon as he stepped out of the room, I groaned and lay my head on the table. My head was still killing me, I was sure I looked like a mess, my mouth tasted terrible, and I had no idea why I was there. Or, for that matter, where my friends were.

There was some sort of commotion down the hall, and then a tall woman walked in.

"Hi Isabella, I'm Detective Rourke. I'm going to make this very quick for you, because there's a group of women demanding your immediate release and, to be honest, you're not looking so great." I sat up after that last part.

"I'm sorry." I apologized for lack of anything else to say. She sat down across from me, holding a file.

"Isabella, last night when you were detained, we took your fingerprints. Now, legally, police keep a database of fingerprints from different crimes and crime scenes across the country. Are you aware of this?" I shook my head.

"Well, one of those databases is a missing persons database. Now, when we put your fingerprints into the database, they came up as a 92% match for a missing person's case from 19-. Is that the year you were born?" I nodded.

"Okay, well, a 92% match is actually quite a high match. High enough that we have to reopen the case, alright? For you, all this means is that you have to make an appointment to come back and talk to me in a week, alright?" I nodded.

"Isabella, I need verbal confirmation that you understand what I'm saying."

"No, I get it. I need to come talk to you in a week. I'll make the appointment. Please, can I please go home?" Detective Rourke smiled and nodded, before standing up. She opened the door, and walked me out to a desk. Alice and Angela stood there.

Angela was worried, clenching and unclenching her hands and shifting from foot to foot. Alice looked more guilty, wincing as soon as she saw me.

"Thank God!" Angela said, rushing forward to give me a hug. Alice joined in as well.

"I am so, so sorry Bella. Your mom is going to kill me. I got you arrested."

"Too loud." I said. "I just have to make an appointment before I go."

'Are they trying to make you go to AA? I can tell them you're not an alcoholic. This was all my fault." Alice said, thankfully in a much quieter voice. I shook my head.

"Something about some kind of fingerprint database." I said. Walking over to the desk, I made the appointment to meet with Detective Rourke and then finally Alice and Angela brought me back.

I slept for most of the rest of the day. That's not even an exaggeration. I went to sleep at around eleven, and I woke up at seven at night. Then, Alice and Angela filled me up with food and tried to ask me more about what happened. I didn't really have answers.

"All I know guys, is that my fingerprints are a match for some kind of police database so they made an appointment with me. It didn't sound like I was guilty of anything really. Oh God, I need to call my mom."

"Bella, what if you didn't?" Alice asked. "I don't want your mom to hate me." Angela and I both gave her a look, and she sighed.

"Okay, no, I know you need to call your mom." Alice sighed. I smiled at her.

"I won't tell her it was your idea." I acquiesced. She beamed at me.

"Hey, Bella, I really am sorry." She said.

"Don't be. Yesterday was a lot of fun! And yeah, my mom is going to be pissed, but I can't be her perfect daughter forever, right?"

"Please. You'll always be perfect to your mom. Watch, she's going to call the Seattle PD and give them a piece of her mind." Angela laughed. I picked up my phone, and walked into my bedroom. My heart was pounding; for all my bravado I was terrified to talk to her. Still, I hit her number and the phone started ringing.

"Don't tell me you were too hung over to call me until now!" My mom joked. I was quiet. Suddenly telling her about it felt like too much.

"Bella?" She asked. I sighed.

"I was definitely hung over…" I started.

"Did something happen? Did you cheat on Mike?"

"No! Never!" I said. Then she laughed.

"Well, whatever happened can't be as bad as that, right?"

"Just, promise me you won't hate me." I said.

"Bella, absolutely nothing that you could say, or do, would ever make me hate you." She insisted, tone suddenly serious.

"But you need to tell me what happened, Bella. We can't fix it if I don't know what's wrong." That helped calm me down. That's how it was with all of my problems. My mom was there by my side to help me fix them.

"Mom, last night we got a bit too drunk and too loud and someone called the cops on us. We weren't arrested, I promise, but we were brought in. And then something happened with my fingerprints, and now I have to talk to a detective next weekend."

My mom was silent. Throughout my life, my mom had never yelled at me, but in that moment I was sure it was coming. I was sure that she was going to tell me how irresponsible I'd been, and ho I had let her down. Then I heard a quiet, breathy noise and I realized that she was crying.

"Oh no, Mom. Oh no please don't cry. Please, please, please don't cry." This was much worse. I had broken my mother's heart, and I made her cry.

"Oh Bella." She sighed.

"I'm so, so, so sorry mom. Please don't cry."

"Bella I just, I love you so much. I love you so, so much. You know that, right? You know how much I love you?"

"I love you too mom. More than anyone. Please don't cry."

"I'm not, I'm not upset with you Bella. I promise. I just, I just really love you. But Bella, I love you no matter what. You know that, right? I love you absolutely, all of the time, no matter what."

"I know that mom. I know."

"Do you Bella? You believe me?"

"Of course I know that mom. Of course I believe it. You are a perfect mother. I love you too. So much. Of course I know you love me. You make me feel loved every day."

"Okay, good. That's all I need to know. I'm not mad at you sweetheart. I'm glad you called. I actually have some fun news. I uh, I didn't want to tell you on your birthday, but, well, I'm going on a vacation."

"What? Mom!"

"I love you. But this is something I'm doing for me. I'm going on vacation to Mexico. I just finalized all of the details. I wanted, I wish I could bring you with me, but you have your own life now. I need to accept that."

"Mom, we can go this summer. I'll have some vacation time."

"No, Darling, I need to go now. I need to get away. Just for a little while."

"Mom, how long is a little while."

"Just a few, two weeks. You know, I love being your mom. But I need to get away." I thought I understood what she was trying to say. Now, with hindsight, I know the truth. But in that moment, I thought I understood her perfectly.

"Mom, don't ever feel guilty for needing some time for you. Enjoy it. I hope you have an absolutely amazing time. And I can't wait to hear all about it."

"You are so selfless, darling. Such a beautiful, amazing daughter. I am so proud to be your mother."

"Mom."

"No, really Bella. And I promise, I'm not mad at you. Tell me the truth, did this have something to do with Alice?"

"Mom! Okay, yes, but I told her I wouldn't tell you so you need to pretend not to know."

"She'll never know that I know, Bella. I promise."

"Thanks, mom. I'll talk to you tomorrow, alright? Bye."

"Bye, Darling." When I hung up, the only thing I felt was relieved that she wasn't mad. I didn't think that what she said or how she said it was strange. In fact, I didn't suspect a thing. I told Alice and Angela that she wasn't mad, and to me that was the end of it.

But, as you all know, it was really just the beginning.


End file.
